Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital city of the
Kasai-Central Province in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
and was the capital of the former
Kasaï-Occidental Province. It is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,524,000 in 2021.
[
The city lies near the Lulua River, a tributary of the ]Kasai River
The Kasai River ( ; called Cassai in Angola) is a tributary (left side) of the Congo River, located in Central Africa. The river begins in central Angola and flows to the east until it reaches the border between Angola and the Democratic Repub ...
and the Ilebo
Ilebo, formerly known as Port-Francqui, is a town in Kasai province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, lying at the highest navigable point of the Kasaï River. It is an important transport hub for ferries to Kinshasa and trains to Lubumbashi. ...
-Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi (former names: ( French), (Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katang ...
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
. An important commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
and administrative centre, it is home to a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
and to Kananga Airport.
History
German explorer Hermann Wissmann
Hermann Wilhelm Leopold Ludwig Wissmann, after 1890 Hermann von Wissmann (4 September 1853 – 15 June 1905), was a German explorer and administrator in Africa.
Early life
Born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Wissmann was enlisted in the Army in 18 ...
established a station in the area around present-day Kananga, on the left bank of the Lulua. Wissmann named the station Malandji, a name suggested by his 400 carriers, who were from the city of Malanje
Malanje is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola, with a population of 455,000 (2014 census), and a municipality, with a population of 506,847 (2014 census). Projected to be the thirteenth fastest growing city on the African continent be ...
in Angola. Later on, with the construction of the railway on the other bank of the river, the station was moved, and the Lulua train station gave its name to the new town, namely Luluabourg. The old location is named Malandji-Makulu (old Malandji) to this day.
At the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference
The Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference (french: Table ronde belgo-congolaise) was a meeting organized in two partsJoseph Kamanda Kimona-Mbinga"La stabilité du Congo-Kinshasa: enjeux et perspectives"2004 in 1960 in Brussels (January 20 – F ...
, in 1960, the name given to the negotiations for the independence of the then-Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
, a decision was taken that the new state would move the location of its capital from Kinshasa to Luluabourg, due to the latter's central location. However, due to multiple political setbacks, and particularly the secession attempt by Albert Kalonji
Albert Kalonji Ditunga (6 June 1929 – 20 April 2015) was a Congolese politician best known as the leader of the short-lived secessionist state of South Kasai (''Sud-Kasaï'') during the Congo Crisis.
Early life
Little is known about Al ...
and his South Kasai
South Kasai (french: Sud-Kasaï) was an unrecognised secessionist state within the Republic of the Congo (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) which was semi-independent between 1960 and 1962. Initially proposed as only a province, ...
, this decision was never implemented. When the central government reconquered South Kasai in 1962, Luluabourg became the capital of the new Kasai-Occidental
Kasaï-Occidental (French for "Western Kasai"; lua, Kasai Wa Mubuelu) was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Kasaï-Central and the Kasaï provinces.
History
T ...
province. Kananga (as Luluabourg) was the site of the drafting of the first Congolese-written constitution for the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, in 1964.
In 1966, during an Africanization
Africanization or Africanisation (lit., making something African) has been applied in various contexts, notably in geographic and personal naming and in the composition of the civil service via processes such as indigenization.
Africanization ...
campaign, Mobutu Sese Seko renamed a number of cities and towns that bore European names. Leopoldville became Kinshasa, and Luluabourg became Kananga. The name Kananga derives from the Tshiluba word kanangayi meaning "a place for peace or love" as what is now central Kananga was a gathering place for pre-colonial chiefs to discuss treaties and to settle disputes.
Under the 2006 constitution, the Democratic republic of the Congo was divided in 25 provinces, and one national Capital city ( Kinshasa). The Kasai-Occidental
Kasaï-Occidental (French for "Western Kasai"; lua, Kasai Wa Mubuelu) was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Kasaï-Central and the Kasaï provinces.
History
T ...
was divided into two provinces. Kananga became the capital of the Lulua Province.
Locally, Kananga is known as Kananga-Malandji, or even Kananga-Malandji wa Nshinga. Nshinga, or cables, stands for the large high-voltage cables of the Inga-Shaba project, that cross the skies of Kananga, and that link Kolwezi
Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plant ...
and the Lualaba Province to the Inga Dam in Bas-Congo
Kongo Central ( kg, Kongo dia Kati ), formerly Bas-Congo is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its capital is Matadi.
History
At the time of independence, the area now encompassing Kongo Central was part of the g ...
.
Climate
Kananga has a tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Aw''), fairly typical of the western Democratic Republic of Congo, with a dry season entered upon June and July and a lengthy though not intense wet season from September to May.
Rail accidents
* 1 August 2007 – A railway accident 100 miles west of Kananga town, caused by a brake failure, resulted in 100 fatalities.
* 29 November 2005 – People riding on roofs swept off by low beam of bridge.
See also
* Railway stations in DRCongo
Railway stations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) include:
Maps
UN Map WestUN Map East*
Stations served by passenger trains
Stations served by rail
Existing
Matadi–Kinshasa Railway
* Ango-Ango
* Matadi
* Mpozo
...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Populated places in Kasaï-Central
Populated places established in 1884
1884 establishments in Africa